The general practice of attaching a stick and a ball with a flexible string or cord for producing a recreational device has appeared in United States patents as early as 1894. Rope jumping sticks of this type are generally used for recreation and for developing coordination and muscle tone.
In using a rope jumping stick, an operator grasps the end of the stick away from the end which connects to the cord. The operator manipulates the stick in such a way that the end of the cord sweeps out the circumference of a circle on the ground in front of the operator, and in such a way that the center of the circle is roughly at the end of the stick connected to the cord. A few participants stand around the path of the cord and jump when the cord passes through the respective positions where the participants stand.
Contemporary toy manufacturers are concerned primarily with the production cost and safety of their toys. Manufacturers favor toys which are inexpensive to manufacture and ship. Manufacturers also favor toys which are unlikely to produce injury to persons using the toy. U.S. Pat. No. 2,181,979 to Shaeffer, U.S. Pat. No. 2,944,817 to Stiller and U.S. Pat. No. 3,419,269 to Saffer disclose rope jumping stick assemblies which appear unnecessarily complicated and therefore costly to produce. The U.S. Pat. No. 512,815 to Demler is simple in design: however; its solid rod and solid ball may pose some injury risk to persons operating the assembly.